The Hawk Games
by CreekwindHermione
Summary: When BloodClan lost, a new clan, just as bloodthristy, arose. HawkClan. They decided that soon, after many months of preparation, 24 cats from the clans will be picked for a fight to the death, The Hawk Games. BloodClan is having revenge. Meanwhile, a curse dominates two cats, brother and sister. The curse will never be gone until one of them wins the games... while the other dies.
1. Prologue

Falcon bounded up onto the dumpster after the lost battle

The _lost _battle.

He didn't know whether he ought to dance or cry, but he knew what Hawk would do.

Hawk would jump into the dumpster, throw a whole bunch of rocks, cry a river, and then run around in circles on the Thunderpath hoping to do suicide.

He licked a wound on his chest inflicted by that black and white cat with the long tail. How did BloodClan get themselves into this mess?

Oh right. Scourge had wanted the forest, and he was determined to get the forest. A battle had started, and they had lost. Why they had lost, Falcon would never know.

_I hope this is the last of BloodClan. I never wanted to serve them anyway._

"Hey, Falcon! We're having a group meeting." Hawk, his brother, called. Falcon knew what "we" was. Hawk, him, and Hawk's rowdy friends.

Falcon entered the hole in the abandoned Nofur nest. Already, Hawk's team had settled in, taking the good spots. Falcon sat near the entrance, before reluctantly sitting nest to his brother after Hawk beckoned him.

"Cats of HawkClan." Hawk started. "As you know, we have lost the battle." Yowls of anger began, but quickly died down under Hawk's intimidating gaze. "But HawkClan will survive. After moons and moons of preparation, we will win!" Cheers erupted. "However, after we win, we must punish the clans for destroying BloodClan. Every Newleaf, since newleaf is usually a cheerful time, six cats from each clan are, three toms and three she-cats, from 10 moons to 60 moons, will be selected randomly to compete in a fight to death!

"We will select them by having each of them tear of someof their fur, and placing them in a hole. Then, if they want to protect their family and friends, they can volunteer to have more of their fur torn of to replace their friends or family's fur. And, so it age and experience won't make the games _unfair"_ Hawk said unfair like he had eaten crowfood. "The older you are, the more fur you must give us. Every eleven moon means one more piece of fur.

"Of course, some cats will refuse to kill. We'll separate the clans into groups. The more violent the cats, the better group they are in. That way, if all the terrible cats are grouped together, and no soft-hearted fools, then that group will be vicious. They'll come into the games vicious. They will kill. And we'll make things interesting too. Now that we know that StarClan is real, there must be a realm for evil cats. We will find that realm, and be able to control nature from there!" Hawk finished off his speech with a victorious yowl, and cheers erupted.

Falcon stayed silent. Then Hawk's eyes landed on him.

"Brother. Aren't you happy?" Hawk sneered. Before Falcon could reply, he said, "Did you really think I never noticed your disloyalty? Because of that, you can be the first to be a tribute; we'll call them, in our first test hunger games. Yes, we are having a test hunger games. HawkClan, go group… hmm, there are five of you. Falcon is already a tribute… four each! I'll get the three. Remember, two toms and two she-cats." HawkClan immediately scattered to follow Hawk's orders.

Falcon stood still, fear overwhelming him. Hawk had knew all this time! He shrank as Hawk towered over him. "As for you… you know. I have already found the evil realm of StarClan, the Dark Forest. They have granted me a wish. And I will make my wish now. Of course, I have to say the proper words." Hawk stood in the exit, so Falcon couldn't run away.

"I, Hawk, leader of HawkClan, call upon the Dark Forest so I can make my wish. I wish for Falcon, traitor of HawkClan, and his descendents to die young unless they can win the Hunger Games only because they kill with true hatred enough tributes for them to win. Until then, his descendents, and his descendents only, not mine, will die young, and horrible, painful deaths." With that said, a dark mist wrapped around Falcon. Falcon felt it settle there. He didn't feel any different, but he knew he was different.

Hawk sneered as he went out of the exit, still sneering as Falcon ran away, far away until on of HawkClan scooped him up and placed him into the abandoned building, which had twenty-four cages for the tributes.

He had been planning this for a long time, and he sneered as he spotted the first four tributes, other than Falcon, placed into their cages, yowling and screaming.


	2. The Speech and Districts

_Some moons after Dark Forest battle…_

ThunderClan awoke to Bramblestar's shrieking.

A group of rogues were filing into the dens, pulling out all the cats inside.

"What are you here for?" Bramblestar hissed.

One of the rogues replied, "Stand in a line." ThunderClan was outnumbered, so they obeyed, even Bramblestar.

"Hello." One of the rogues began. Hisses replied his greeting. "I am Fire. We are here for domination."

"You'll never dominate us! You may outnumber us, but there are four clans!" Poppyfrost shrieked. Her claws were unsheathed.

"Oh really. Here's what we do to cats who talk back. Attack her!" ThunderClan surged forward to protect the she-cat, but immediately each cat was pinned down by two cats each. Fire and Poppyfrost were locked in a think battle. Suddenly, a gurgling shriek was heard and Fire stood with Poppyfrost's heart dangling from his jaws. Dovewing was going to be sick.

Fire buried the heart at the foot of the Highrock. "So, what is it about us not dominating you?" No cats replied.

"Now, onto business." He began explaining the Hawk Games.

"The Hawk Games? We'll never call it that! You are hungry for power, you blind fool. We will call it the Hunger games." Bramblestar hissed. Fear enveloped all of ThunderClan as Fire towered over the leader.

"So? It won't make a difference. In fact, you will be the first tribute. But since we know about your dumb lives and such, we must kill you until you have one life remaining." A shriek suddenly erupted, and too quickly, Bramblestar lay in a heap, on a puddle of blood. His throat had two slashed. His chest had two slashes. His head had two slashes. His stomach had two slashes. Everybody knew how each of Bramblestar's lives had died from.

"We're capable of anything. Next moon, since it is the start of newleaf, remember to have your furs ready and your hole. Don't cheat. You can watch from the Hawk Pool the Dark Forest has provided. Oh no, they never lost. They lost on purpose so we could dominate you. We had much better ideas for the clans, and they realized that. The Dark Forest will watch over you closely. Oh, and next half-moon, gather at your little island. You will no longer be in clans. Instead, you will be in twelve groups, or districts. From most vicious to most foolish and kindest. We will call them, from most vicious, which will be the richest and rewarding district, to the foolish one, which we will put into as much misery as possible. You will have one half-moon to prove which district you are in. And we'll know if it is only an act. Now, the districts. I will be leader of District One, the Hawk District."

Suddenly, a beautiful white she-cat appeared. "I am Ice! I will be leader of District Two, the Eagle District.

"I am Fox. I will be leader of District Three, the Vulture District." A red tom with white paws and tail said.

"I am Dark. I will be leader of District Four, the Buzzard District." A black tom announced. His eyes shone with mystery. Sandstorm got the feeling that the cats had rehearsed this.

"I am Thimble. I will be leader of District Five, the Owl District." A gray tom with black speckles said.

"I am Sadie. I will be leader of District Six, the Osprey District." A red-brown she-cat said.

"I am Claw. I will be leader of District Seven, the Huron District." A dark brown tom with incredibly long claws said.

"I am Slip. I will be leader of District Eight, the District." A sleek Russian blue tom snarled, his lip curled.

"I am Vi. I will be leader of District Nine, the Robin District." A blue-brown striped she-cat murmured, almost too quiet for ThunderClan to hear.

"I am Jack. I will be leader of District Ten, the Thrush District." Jack, a brown with black stripes tom, had the markings of a kittypet. He was free probably, but Dovewing could tell he had once been a kittypet.

"I am Shimmer. I will be leader of District Eleven, the Dove District." A white-gray she-cat said, looking disappointed to get such a low district.

"I am Apple. I will be leader of District Twelve, the Falcon District." Apple looked disgusted when he said falcon. Squirrelflight caught him looking enviously at the Hawk District leader, but was confused. She had guessed the better the district, the more powerful bird. But wasn't a falcon a powerful bird? Why was it the least district?

"The other clans have the same speech." Fire said. "Remember, next moon, the Hawk Games. And enjoy your time in your clan. It may be the last time you'll ever be in one. See you nest half-moon." With that and a sneer, he led his group out of the camp.

"Who are you?" Dovewing suddenly called, immediately regretting it.

"We are HawkClan." Fire replied as rain started pouring down the cats who just sat there, too stunned and afraid of the next moon.


	3. The Dividing

Mistystar knew the clan was probably the last to arrive, but she had done that on purpose. She looked at her clan. Nothing had changed much since the Dark Forest battle. All training and promotions (except for the rearranging because of deaths) had been paused. They were back again to doing it, but it was rusty.

"Oh Mistystar." Her new deputy, Graymist, said. She had been attacked to her last life. She had been told that the same happened to the other clans, but she hadn't known if she should believe it.

And she couldn't believe that some of her clan had actually tried to make in into the Hawk District! Where was the loyalty? Okay, the clans had been dominated by the Dark Forest, but still…

RiverClan made their way across the tree bridge, and Mistystar realized how small her clan was. Only seven warriors. WindClan had thirteen after, _deleting permanently _(as Mistystar preferred to call it) Breezepelt!

_We're being split anyway. Why should I care? _Mistystar thought bitterly. Her thoughts turned elsewhere.

How come she had given up so quickly? She knew the other clans must have given up as easily too-she could sense the regret as she jumped of the tree-bridge and ran over to the tree where the leaders normally sat, and were sitting there now, at normal Gatherings.

She hopped onto the tree. The island was crowded. Even the barn cats were here. Or the barn cat. Smoky had died in the Dark Forest attack.

"Welcome!" The leaders were suddenly pushed off the tree. Fire took their places.

Fire's eyes blazed with excitement. "We will begin the dividing. Which clan should go first?" No clans responded. "Fine. Ice, darling. Give me the stick." Ice, the leader of District Two, handed over a stick with a leaf, some heather, a reed, and a frog skin somehow attached to the ends. Fire twirled the stick, and then dropped it.

"Which part hit first?" Fire asked.

"The frog skin." Fox replied. ShadowClan gasped. The clans had figured out how the stick worked, and who was who.

"Blackstar! The Owl District!" Blackstar headed over to Thimble. He had his back turned to the clans the entire Dividing.

"Rowanclaw! The Robin District!" Rowanclaw licked Tawnypelt's shoulder before clambering over to Vi.

The Dividing continued. Mistystar was relived there were no Hawk District cats until-

"Kinkfur! Hawk District!" Kinkfur stood up from her spot and walked over to the tree base. All the clans stared at her as she carried her kits to Fire, who gazed proudly at his first cat. Kits were allowed to go with their mothers if they were under one moon old.

Blackstar began to turn his back around, but quickly went back to his former position. Mistystar didn't know why, but her heart tightened. She glanced at ThunderClan, whose fur was on end. WindClan was trembling with fear, some cats had their tails wrapped with their friends and families, knowing this could be the last time they would be together. If they went to different districts, the only time they would see each other was at the Hunger Games as enemies. She noticed Crowfeather's eyes blazing, and she remembered how Onestar had killed Breezepelt in front of RiverClan as Breezepelt's punishment.

She then realized the stick had spun again and this time, it was RiverClan's turn.

"Mistystar." Mistystar waited, knowing she would probably be in the last district. She had tried desperately to be kind, hoping to show she was a rebel.

Fire sneered. "The Hawk District." He said, and Mistystar stared at him, before he felt a push to Fire. She turned, wanting to say a good bye, but she realized that the cat, Mothwing, was staring at her with cold eyes and dismay.

Mistystar flinched under her clan's hatred as she walked over to District One. They thought she had wanted this district on purpose!

She turned her gaze to Fire, who was sneering at her. Mistystar knew he had given her this district on purpose, and her paws churned with anger.

She padded over to him as far away as possible, but as the Dividing grew on and on, the clans began to forget about her.

Graymist was assigned to the Owl District, while her apprentice, Troutpaw, was assigned to the Duck District. Onestar got the Buzzard District, and Bramblestar, after a long talking with his mate and deputy Squirrelflight, had been assigned to the Falcon District. The clans cheered for him because of that but were silenced by the harsh gazes of the district leaders.

Suddenly, she felt a breath close to her ear. Her eyes caught a glimpse of Fire, still sneering.

"Like your new home? I chose it just for you." He hissed, even the sneer could be heard in his voice.

"So? We'll rebel!" Mistystar hissed back.

"Oh really? You know the Dark Forest lost on purpose! We can shred you if we want." Fire hissed back, and Mistystar stayed silently.

Mistystar knew it was probably true.

The clans were being controlled by Fire now, and there was nothing they could do about it.


	4. Shimmer's Eyes

**A/N: Okay, I just want to say thank you Splashpaw for reviewing! Also, I'm sorry if your favorite characters are now evil. And I just rearranged the allegiances after remembering that this takes place several moons after The Last Hope, so there should be new apprentices and such. Also, sorry if I put some cats in the Hawk/Hunger Games that are not the right age. I had to guess some of the ages. Now, the story!**

Squirrelflight watched her tail curled around Bramblestar's tail one last time before uncurling as he walked over to Apple, who looked nervous as his second cat came.

"Squirrelflight! The Dove District!" Fire called, and Squirrelflight nearly had a heart attack. While she had been feeling her heart break at being separated from her mate, she had nearly forgotten about the Dividing.

She walked over to Shimmer, who was actually really pretty. Sunlight made her gray pelt sparkling silver and her eyes were a pretty river blue color that held the beauty of the sky. At first glance, this was a cat that was kind and gentle. But she knew that if Shimmer was with Fire, no matter how low her district, kindness and gentle were the last thing on one's mind if one were to describe her.

"Poor you. Getting separated by your mate?" Shimmer asked coldly, and Squirrelflight felt like Shimmer's sky blue eyes now held the chill of ice.

Squirrelflight's pelt prickled. "StarClan won't allow this!" She yelped, but nobody turned in her direction. "StarClan won't allow this." She repeated, quieter this time.

"Oh really? Hmmm…" Shimmer's eyes seemed to betray a look of deep thought.

_I can practically mind read her just by looking at her eyes._

Squirrelflight sighed and turned her attention back to the Dividing.

"Graystripe! Robin District!" Fire continued. Squirrelflight's heart twisted at how happy the HawkClan cat looked. They were ripping apart friends and families!

Shimmer was no longer in deep thought anymore, and was now scanning the crowds. For some reason, Squirrelflight's pelt prickled with unease.

Suddenly, a "no!" pierced the air. All the heads turned to the commotion.

Brightheart was hanging on to Cloudtail, her paws wrapped around the white tom's belly. "Please! Don't go! Pair me with him!" She was shrieking.

Fire flicked his tail and Ice and Fox calmly left their spots to head over to Cloudtail and Brightheart. Brightheart didn't see them as they came up to her on her blind side, and when they pulled her away she was too surprised to defend herself until she was pinned with a heavy looking rock on top of her. Another cat, from HawkClan, came over to probably guard her.

"Continue." Fire said icily, his eyes searching the crowd to make sure all the cats knew the message was clear. They were getting separated no matter what.

"Brightheart. Falcon District." A voice called out, and Squirrelflight realized Fire was no longer announcing the districts, and now a strong looking orange tabby tom was.

The tom had brown stripes running down his back, along with a pink scar on his nose, and another following where one brown stripe would be. His claws reflected the sunlight, and they kept on sheathing and unsheathing. His pale yellow eyes looked excited and happy as he rambled on the Dividing.

Squirrelflight felt anger churn inside of her when Spiderleg was called. The once proud warrior now only held a sinister glare in his eyes, and his fur seemed to have more scars each day. There was no surprise as Spiderleg walked over to Fire, who seemed proud at Spiderleg.

Squirrelflight felt like she could bear no more of this. She suddenly felt like she just wanted to get over with it. Thankfully, ThunderClan was the last clan.

All the sounds that Squirrelflight once felt comforting now were just like sharp slaps to her body. Bird's twitter, the dog's barking, all that just became one blurry sound. Her eyes blurred too. Squirrelflight wasn't sure if she was weeping, but she didn't care. She wouldn't see Bramblestar again. She wouldn't be ThunderClan again.

_At least I have Leafpool._ She suddenly remembered. Excitement welled up inside of her, and her senses cleared.

"Hazeltail! Owl District." Now Ice was announcing them.

Squirrelflight watched Hazeltail walk over to Thimble, whose group included Dustpelt, Blackstar, Ivypool, Toadfoot, Graymist, Petalfur, Crowfeather, Whitetail and Swallowtail. She was welcomed with little pats on the back from her clanmates, and some strained smiles from the others. Blackstar still had his back turned.

Squirrelflight's senses soon became bored. They were doing the elders now. She felt guilty. Why were she bored? She was getting separated forever from loved ones!

That thought made it sure that Squirrelflight couldn't bear it anymore. She was about to fall asleep when she noticed Shimmer staring at the Falcon District. Curiosity got the better of her, and she turned her head too.

It was Bramblestar. At first Squirrelflight wasn't sure why Shimmer was staring at her mate, when she noticed the look in Shimmer's eyes, one she would never expect from a HawkClan cat.

Love.


	5. The Tribute Choosing

**A/N: So this would be another chapter! So this chapter is going to be fantsy-ish, as cats know how to use a bow and arrows. Also, I totally forgot about Dewkit, Snowkit, and Amberkit from ThunderClan so I'll just add them in the middle of the story. By the way, you can sponsor in the reviews, and thanks for all who have already reviewed! :D**

"Catizens of the Thrush District! Wake up for the First Annual Hawk Games Tribute-Choosing!" Jack calls echoed of the trees in the woodland that was the Thrush's territory.

After the Dividing, each District got their territories. The Dark Forest chose the most amazing territories for the first districts, but burned some of the moorland, WindClan's old territory, for the last district. The Dove District got the unburned part of the moorland, and the Thrush District got the woodland and part of the moor, which Hawk Clan and somehow planted some pretty flowers but not much, for them.

Sandstorm groaned as he got up, feeling the bare patch of her fur rub against the thin sticks and twigs and leaves that made up her nest. Of course, HawkClan had changed their rules. Now, as long as the cat wasn't either an elder or and a kit, they could participate in the Hawk Games. She guessed that was a bit fair or maybe not. She would never know.

She had sacrificed nine pieces of fur in the little rock bucket-hole-whatever it was. She had wanted to sacrifice more for others, but they all refused.

Padding out, she saw the whole rest of the district was just waiting for her. When she finally arrived, Jack began.

"Okay, um, so this is the- you know what, you already know. I'll just pick them now. Um…. We'll do the she-cats first." Jack's paw plunged into a pinkish rock hole. Sandstorm's felt her heart racing in anticipation as she stared at Jack's paw rummaging through the pile of fur. She was pretty sure she had the most pieces of fur in there.

"Sandstorm!" Jack called.

Sandstorm felt her paws turned to stone and her heart turn to ice.

"I volunteer!" Willowshine called. Sandstorm felt her heart had leapt out of her throat.

Sandstorm hardly had time to contradict before Jack's paw was in the tom's hole again. Jack probably made it fast so there would be no time for emotional moments. Though he wasn't doing a good job of it as six cats burst into tears and one began clawing at random stuff.

Jack's paw came out slowly, and in it was clutched a familiar piece of fur…

"Berrynose!" Sandstrom's heart turned over. The Tribute Choosing had been so quick and already she felt like crying. Berrynose could hardly walk because of an accident with a twoleg monster! Berrynose's legs had gotten destroyed, and he had joined Briarlight in the medicine den. Some of the HawkClan patrollers HawkClan had sent came to roughly carry Berrynose to join Willowshine.

Jack had obviously been told to keep the Tribute Choosing short; as he quickly went through when the official Tribute Choosing recaps would be held (somehow the Dark Forest had created a pond in every district and made it so the pond would feature any HawkClan news and Hunger Games stuff).

Sandstorm finally had time to register the events after the tributes touched noses (they were forced too, though Berrynose and Willowshine would've had no problem touching noses). Willowshine was going to die for her. Snowbird might've volunteered too, but Willowshine had acted as though this was planned. She had probably told Snowbird no volunteering. Though Sandstorm wished-with guilt-that Snowbird had volunteered anyways. HawkClan hadn't provided each district with a healer, and probably wouldn't have cared. Berrynose was probably going to die with his useless hind legs. Willowshine might have a chance, but she wouldn't exactly be marked as fierce warrior (she was a medicine cat for goodness sakes!), so there was a slim chance of her winning too.

The Hunger Games might have well been a death sentence. Sandstorm still couldn't believe how easily the clans have lost.

* * *

"Do you have it?" Fire asked Stream, the Head Gamemaker.

The Games needed a place to happen, so they had to find a place. Of course, they couldn't keep on carrying the cats to the places, so they used the majestic power that dead cats seemed to have to find the place, copy the place into the Official Game Holder, which was a glowing Fireball, and then having the tributes enter the Games.

The tributes would have some training, and live some luxury. This was so all the tributes would go from luxury to the Games. The Falcon District wouldn't have the advantage of having no need for their bodies to adjust. They'd be used to it already.

And the tributes would have training. This was from Tom, one of the Gamemakers. They would have a private time with the Gamemaker Cats, which was the group of cat that made sure the games and the game arena ran smoothly and worked, would watch the tribute's skill and then rate the cats on a scale from 1 to 12. The tribute scores were shown on a table, with a type of bird as the number. The birds' number would be the district number. So if a tribute got a Dove, they would've gotten a score of 11 as the Dove was the symbol of the Dove District, or District 11.

"Yes." Stream replied, handing over the Fireball. It wasn't actually fire- it was just illuminated to look like a Fireball. So it was safe to touch.

Fire smiled. He had done these games before with rogues and kittypets and loners. So technically this was the 201st Annual Hawk Games. But this would be the 1st Annual Hawk Games with the clans.

This was going to be one interesting Game.

**A/N This is actually only half of a chapter, but I had to split the chapter up because it was so long (around 2, 900 words). Hope you liked it and please review!  
**


	6. The Duel

**A/N I had to split a chapter into two because of the big overload of words. Never knew I could type so much. :D Anyways, enjoy the story!**

Willowshine clambered aboard the twoleg boat. This was HawkClan way to travel to the Games. Willowshine was certain they chose something related to twolegs to mock the clans.

Canter, their Games Guide, led the way to the cabins. Stopping to help Berrynose into his, Canter grabbed his scruff and began dragging a bit roughly.

There were five rooms in each boat. There were fourteen boats, one for each district, one for HawkClan, and the other one Willowshine didn't know and didn't care. She also didn't know what the extra territory HawkClan had set aside was for. She didn't care either.

The Game Guides were cats that guided and mentored the tributes. Willowshine had a feeling they were actually used to make sure the tributes didn't try to escape or highjack the boats or stuff.

Canter was a light brown tom with white speckles and a white underbelly. His black paws padded to a small hole in the wall. The boat had looked like it had been abandoned, and it had cracks and holes and rats everywhere. District 1's boat was probably polished and gleamed with proper rooms and ceilings that rose higher than trees.

Willowshine padded into the hole. The wall looked like twolegs had put some sort of paste on it, and the paste was chipping. A few holes in the ceilings let sunlight in. The room was about two foxlengths long and two rabbit leaps wide. Some feathers lay scattered, and a moss in the middle was probably the bed. The floor wasn't luxury, but it wasn't dirty either. There were no bugs or insects, nor any sign of life in here. Willowshine was probably the first life to walk in here for a long time.

Willowshine eyed a small tunnel like tube that protruded from the wall and lay on the floor. What was it for? That question was quickly answered when she heard a tumbling sound and a mouse lay at her feet. Sniffing it consciously, she finally gulped it down after redeeming it safe.

Why were they keeping them here? How come Willowshine wasn't already being led to her death in the Games?

_Because they're trying to create suspense and hope of course. They're creating hope that will be crushed with a death blow by one of the higher districts._ Claws unsheathing, she raked the wall in fury. How dare them! Cats had rights and freedom! Sighing, she lay down for a nice long nap.

Waking up to a paw jabbing her awake, she took in her surroundings. Why was she in a twoleg room? Oh right- the Games. How were her family and friends back in the districts doing? The ones that didn't chose to aim for Districts 1, 2 or 3?

"Come on. There a meeting for all the tributes and their Game Guides." The cat said. Willowshine nodded half-heartedly. What now?

Walking outside using a flat tree bridge, she padded into the HawkClan boat. Immediately, an amazing fragrance hit her. Cool air enveloped her fur, and she felt her body relax. No wonder this boat was only for HawkClan. Shiny walls and big rooms were everywhere, and a yummy smell that was probably the food reached her nose. Inhaling deeply, she followed the cat into the meeting room. Berrynoset was already there, supported by a few rocks. In fact, everyone seemed to have been waiting for Willowshine. Willowshine sheepishly padded into the empty seat, and the meeting began. The meeting started with a full description of the clans' downfall, then another description about the Games. Willowshine noticed only a short quick sentence was given about the when the Games began exactly and who created the Games. Fire had acted like he had given the speech about the Games plenty of times when he was first dominating the clans and explaining them.

Then they went on about the training and mentors. Every day, the tributes would go into a special clearing. There would be tree climbing stations, herb stations, fighting stations, weapon stations… and in the end, at a private session with the Gamemakers, they show off their skills and the Gamemakers would rate them with a score on a scale from 1-12, 1 being the worst and 12 being absolutely superb.

Also, interviews would be given right before the Games. Special cats would help groom and beautify the tributes, and the audience would chose which cat to sponsor. Maybe make some bets.

After the meeting ended, Canter brought Berrynose over to Willowshine. "Okay, all the tributes are headed to the training areas. I can't go in there except to watch, but I have a suggestion. Make sure you practice what you don't know. And spend the most time at the weapons section. No cats know about using weapons, and it'll give you an advantage. And spend some time at the herbs section. If you can heal yourself, you'll be invincible." Pushing himself away, Canter headed over to a chatting group of HawkClan cats and joined in, telling a joke and having all of them laugh.

As they walked over to the clearing, Willowshine helping Berrynose drag himself, Berrynose tried to strike up some conversation. "So what do you think the Games will be like?"

"Well, they didn't tell us about the place the Games will be like. Probably so we can all get a surprise. Why do you think Canter wanted us to do the weapon section? Will there be weapons scattered in the clearing for us to collect? Or would we have to make our own?" Willowshine replied. She felt a little lucky that she would have some extra time because she could skip the herb section before realizing that she also had a disadvantage of not having learned an in-depth version of fighting and hunting.

Arriving at the clearing, they saw some of the District 1 tributes already welding the weapons at the weapon section easily. A long pointy stick that the she-cat from District 1-Mistystar Willowshine saw with anger-was slashing and stabbing at her targets. The tom from District 1, Spiderleg, this time she noticed Briarlight's claws claw at the floor angrily, was using a sort of contraption. There was a bendy stick, and a string attached to each ends. A stick with feathers at the end and a sharp looking stone at the other end was attached in the middle of the contraption, and Spiderleg used his tail to pull the string back, well using a paw or his mouth to keep the stick part level. When he released his tail or mouth/paw, the pointy stick thingy that Willowshine finally recognized as an arrow from hearing a lecture one of the HawkClan cats at each station was giving to Dewpaw from District 9.

Why was Dewpaw here? Why couldn't the young ones be safe and sound at home? Even if home was a place being ruled by HawkClan. Some HawkClan spectators were loitering around, and a group of cats Willowshine suspected were the Gamemakers were sitting watching.

Willowshine noticed Berrynose had dragged himself to the herbs station and began mixing poultices the wrong way. Walking over to the tom, she noticed him placing some parsley with some deathberries, and quickly shaking her head, showed Berrynose how to create a poultice that could stop bleeding even better than cobwebs. Berrynose tried again, but he got the parsley mixed up with the water hemlock so Willowshine dragged a HawkClan cat at the herb station to help Berrynose.

After freeing herself, Willowshine scanned the stations. She didn't need to do herbs, so maybe she could do weapons. Or fighting. Or hunting. She noticed a camouflage station. She also saw a prey station, and an insect station. There was also tree-climbing. She noticed there was a special section of the room for dealing with other animals like dogs or bears or raccoons.

She was about to head over to the herb section because it would be easy, but she noticed Berrynose had tried to use a cobweb to stop bleeding and was now tangled up in some vines with a stick in his mouth and a some strange liquid spilling under him. The cobwebs sat untouched one mouselength from him. Deciding she would probably burst out laughing so much to really do anything there, she headed over to the weapons.

The District 1 cats noticed her. Sneering, Spiderleg snatched the stick swiftly from Mistystar and stuck it out for Willowshine to trip. After falling on some weird sharp metal blade thingys, she decided to just practice on her own. Grabbing the bow and arrow thing, she began trying to use it. Immediately, she realized she had done something horribly wrong as the bow broke and the arrow pathetically fell to the ground. Spideleg laughed.

Embarrassed, Willowshine shoved the broken bow and arrow under some daggers (she heard Dewpaw call them). Sudenly, Willowshine felt a presence near her.

"Want to duel?" Spiderleg's voice asked. Willowshine turned. Spiderleg was sneering at her, and suddenly Willowshine felt anger boil her blood. Before she knew it, Spiderleg had given her a few minutes to pick out her weapon of choice and to meet up in the small clearing t duel. A small crowd was already gathered there. Berrynose was still tangled in his vines. Now the cobwebs were. Fear tugged at her. Suddenly, she saw Dewpaw from RiverClan standing there tangled too.

Willowshine looked at the weapons innocently. "Oh, hi." Willowshine said half-heartedly, watching Spiderleg wield a dagger perfectly.

"Need help?" Dewpaw asked, taking Willowshine by surprise. What could Dewpaw do?

"Sure."

"Don't look at me like that. HawkClan probably haven't gotten to you yet, but they're ordering each district to provide them with something. We're doing the weapons and stuff. Of course, we have the most HawkClan patrollers in our district. I mean, they're everywhere. But anyways, I can help you with the names." Dewpaw began pointing to each weapon. "Those are axes." She used her tail pointed to flat square-like blade on a stick. "Bow and arrow." She pointed to the contraption Spideleg was first using.

Soon, Willowshine had a good enough knowledge of the use and name of each weapon. And just in time. Spiderleg called that her time was up and to get her weapon ready, and Willowshine quickly grabbed a throwing knife.

She joined Spiderleg in the circle. She saw Spiderleg holding a sword, compared to her puny throwing knife. Then she realized she had actually grabbed a spear.

Willowshine knew she was going to lose. Spiderleg had probably trained for this. Willowshine hadn't done anything else but mope a lot. Plus, she hadn't been a warrior, which was a big disadvantage as she wouldn't know a lot of fighting.

Suddenly, Spiderleg charged and the former RiverClan medicine cat felt pain burn up her leg. A long gash was bleeding heavenly. Licking it quickly, Willowshine tried to raise her spear, but it slipped and Spiderleg charged again, this time almost hitting her head.

Yelping, she blindly took the spear and threw. Immediately a scream erupted. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to find Spiderleg unharmed. Then she realized he wasn't looking at her.

Following his gaze, she stared in horror at the spear's target.

She had hit the Head Gamemaker.


End file.
